Herbert w



u. w. HOOVER. BRUSH SUPPORTING DEVICE FOR SUCTION CLEANERS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3. I9]?- Patented July 8,1919.

15311674507" 12%? 562% moi/07*.

Liv/5% STATES PATENT OFFICE...

HERBERT W. HOOVER, OF NEW BERLIN, OHIO, ASSIGNOBTO THE HOOVER SUCTION SWEEPEB COMPANY, OF NEW BERLIN, OHIO A CORPORATION OF OHIO.-

BRUSH-SUPPORTING DEVICE FOR SUCTION-CLEANERS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented uly 8, 1919i Application filed June 8, 1917. Serial No. 173,447.:

To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that I, HERBERT W. Hoovnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Berlin, in the State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Brush-Supporting Devices for Suetion-Cleaners, of which the following isv a specification.

' hands of the operator alone without tools of any kind and whereby the brush supporting means maybe held in position without be-- ing bolted or rivetedor otherwise fastened.- Another object is to provide a support whereby they guard fingers which extend across the open mouth of the hood may be kept in proper position with respect to the brush and whereby they may not interfere with the withdrawal of the brush. Another object is to provide means whereby the fingers-may terminate at their rear ends short of therear wall of the open mouth thus permitting the entrance of long particles between the ends of the fingers and the wall of the mouth which otherwisecould not be.

drawn into the system. In this'connec'tion means are provided which protect the free ends of the fingers and make sit impossible for them to catch under the edge of the rug or other'floor covering and which'makeit impossible for the fingers 'articularly when the machine is moved bac floor to catch any foreign substances. Other objects of the inventionwill appear from time to time in the specification.

My invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically. in the accompanying drawmgs, where1n Figure 1 is a bottom plan view with parts in section;

'F1g. 2 1s a section Fig. 4 is a section along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

ard across the along the line '2-2 of Fig. 1 with the brush removed;

Fig. 5 is a detail section along the line 55 of Fig. 1:

device. I e

Like parts are indicated by like charac+ ters in all the figures.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the adjusting Y A is a hood'having an open suction mouth I or nozzle A end walls A A and. communicating by means of a suction passage in the casing A with a fan chamber A* which in turn discharges into the exhaust passage A. The fan'in the fanchamber not specifically illustrated is of course driven by the I usual electric niotor and I have only shown that part of. the suction cleaner in a-very diagrammatic manner as it forms no part of the invention which I am about'to describe,

The hood which contains the open suction mouth is provided with flanges B, B about the suction mouth. A' brush frame made up of a longitudinal spring cross piece B upset or ribbed as at B for strength and stilfness has at either end a-oarrying plate B? rigidly mounted on the cross member. This carrying plate is slotted as at B to engage a lug B on the outside of the brush adjusting plate B, whereby the brush adjusting plate may be held in adjusted position in the supporting orcarrying plate.

G is the brush rotatably mounted by means of bearings C on a shaft C which shaft is supported at either end on one of the adjustingplat'es B so that with the parts -shown in the position in Fig. 1 the brush is held and supported free to rotate within the brush supporting frame.

. The brush supporting frame is held with in the 0 en mouth of the hood by spring fin- I gers D, at either end of the frame. They are anchored in the upset portions D on the carrying plate B and yieldingly press the member B against the front wall of the hood because they engage the rear wall of the hood. These fingers are bent away as at D to engage lugs D in. the rear wall of thehood and are provided with finger'engaging pieces D whereby the operator may release the engagement so that he can withdraw the brush frame. side of the open mouth of the hood prevents the possibility ofthe brush frame dropping out.

The flange B on the front I E E are hooks stamped out of the brush frame member B positively disposed in pairs and adapted to hold aud t-position the spring fingers E E. It will be understood that each pair of spring fingers is joined by a cross-piece which extends between the two hooks and thus when the hooks are bent each over a separate finger this cross piece tying them together furnishes a secure anchorage whereby in cooperation with the member B the fingers are held rigidly in position. These fingers extend rearwardly toward and terminate short of the edge of the flange B that is the rear edge of the open mouth of the hood. They are prefera'bl bent upwardly at their ends and where so ent are in a general way tangential to the brush. The brush is rotatedby the belt E driven'by any suitable means or as here shown by the motor which drives the fan and the parts areso arranged that looking at the device 'as in- Fig. 2 the brush bristles rotate in a' clockwise direction and tend at all times to exert a sweeping influence toward the rear. This prevents any possibility of any foreign matter coming up over the rear ends of the fingers and working toward the froiit. When the apparatus is moved backward the suction might pick up the edge of the carpet and get it caught over the ends of the fingers but this cannot be done because the brush would immediately sweep away the end of the carpet and compel it to travel under rather than.

over the ends of the fingers. The same is the case in connection with tassels or fringes on edges of rugs or floor coverings. The gap between the rear wall of the open mouth and the ends'of the fingers is provided in order that matches, large pieces of paper or other such refuse may be drawn up into the fan chamber and discharged into the d1rt receptacle even though such articles are so long as to be unable to pass between the fingers themselves.

It will be evident that while I have shown in my drawings an operative device, still many changes might be made both in size, shape and arrangement of parts without departing materially from the spirit of my invent-ion and I wish, therefore, that my draw- -j cam groove J in its face. I

adapted to engage the boss J on the plate ings be regarded as in a sense diagrammatic. he brush adjusting plate B has a spiral This groove is B and when the plate B is rotated obviously the height of the axis of the brush will be changed on account of the engagement of the cam with the boss. Depressions J in the bottom of the cam are provided to fix and hold the parts against rotation. They must be sprung apart to enable the boss to move from one depression to another and thus a range of adjustment is possible.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1, they are ready for operation.

When the operator desires to withdraw the brush and frame, he throws the belt off the pulley. This will enable him to release it from the inner driving pulley driven from the motor. He then pulls back and up on the two thumb pieces to release thespring latches. The springs slide then over the bosses and the brush frame is held in position only by friction. The operator then rotates the brush frame in .a counter clockwise direction looking at Fig. 2 until the rear edge comes out of the open mouthof the hood. He is then able to completely withdraw it. This gives him access to the ends of the brush frameto the supporting and adjusting means'which are not specificallyillustrated. He may then adjust the brush in any manner that he desires, take it out, replace or renew it, change its height' or'replace the belt and he can then return the brush with the supporting features and apparatus as a unit into the open mouth of the hood. He will do this, of course, by

The fingers which extend across the open mouth limit the inward movement of the rug or floor covering responsive to the suction toward the brush so that the distance between the coveringland the 'brush acting upon it is fixed. This prevents undue wearing away of the floor covering and of'the bristles of the brush. Such fingers are necessary because of the relatively great width of the open mouth necessitated by the presence of the large sized, powerful brush.-

Whenever the motor is running and a suction is being created in the nozzle, thebrush will be driven so that the free finger ends are always protected when that is needed. If the machine is merely being drawn across the floor with the motor atrest-, the upwardly curved rear ends of the fingers will be sufiicient to deflect or guide rymg frame supported within the hood and a'rotary brush adjustably-mounted on the frame within the hood adjacent themouth,

means for locking. the brush from adjust ment on the frame when the frame and brush are in the hood, said frame having members adapted to yield to permit the brush adjustment and to be held from yielding by the hood when the frame is inposition therein.

3. In a suction cleaner a hood having an open suction mouth, a removable brush carrying frame supported within the hood and a rotary brush adjustably mounted on the frame within the hood adjacent the mouth, means for locking the brush from adjustment on the frame when the frame and brush are in the hood, and means for yieldingly holding the frame in the hood.

f. Ina suction cleaner a hood having an open suction mouth, a removable brush carrying frame supported within the hood and a rotary brush adjustably mounted on the frame within the hood adjacent the mouth, means for locking the brush from adjustment onv the frame when the frame and brush are in the hood, and means for yieldingly holding the frame in the hood, comprising a ledge projecting inwardly along one side of the suction mouth and a yield ing member on the'frame.

5. In a suction cleaner the combination of a. hood having an open mouth, with aremovable brush'carrying frame adapted to be supported in said hood and a rotary brush mounted in said frame and spring means for holding the frame in position in the hood.

6. In a suction cleaner the combination of a hood having an open mouth, with a removablebrush carrying frame adapted to be supported in said hood and a rotary brushmounted in said frame and mounted on said frame extendlng across the open mouth adjacent the brush.

7. In a suction cleaner a hood having an open suction mouth, a removable brush carrymg frame, guard fingers projecting therefrom and extending acrossthe open mouth and yielding releasable means for holding the frame removably within the hood, a rotary brush mounted on the frame adjacent the guard fingers and located in the open mouth,

8. In a suction cleaner the combination of a hood having an open mouth with a removable brush carrying frame adapted to be supported in said hood and a rotary brush removably mounted in said frame, guard fingers mounted on said frame and extending across said open mouth, said frame mounted so that it can be moved outside the hood through the mouth to permit adjustment of the brush and means for holding the frame in position within the hood.

9. In a. suction cleaner the combination of a hood having an open mouth with a removable brush carrying frame consisting uard fingers of a bar with end pieces, means for mounting the brush in the end pieces and means for holding the frame in the hood and guard fingerswhich project from the bar across the mouth. j

10. In a suctioncleaner the combination of a hood having an open-mouth with a removable brush carrying frame consisting of a bar with end pieces, means for mounting the brush in the end pieces, means for holding the frame in the hood, said mouth provided with a ledge upon the inner side of which the bar rests when the frame is in position. 1

I 11. In a suction cleaner the combination of a hood having an open mouth with a removable brush carrying frame consisting of a bar with end pieces, means for mounting the brush in the end pieces, means for holding the frame in the hood and guard fingers which project from the bar across the mouth, said mouth provided with a ledge upon the inner side of which the bar rests whenthe frame is in position.

' 12. In a suction cleaner the combination with a hood having an open mouth of a removable brush carrying frame supported in said hood and a rotary brush mounted in said frame, a flange on one side of the open mouth of the hood and located in the plane thereof, the brushcarrying frame being adapted to bear against such flange.

13. In a suction cleaner the-combination with a hood having an open mouth-of a re movable brush carrying frame supported in said hood and a rotary brush mounted in said frame, the ends of the frame being in frictional contact with the ends of the hood, a flange on one side of the open mouth of the hood and locatedin the plane thereof, the brush carrying frame being adapted to bear against such flange.

14. In a suction cleaner a hood having an open suction mouth, in. combination with a brush carrying frame comprising two opposed brush' supporting plates, a spring bar connecting them a brush mounted for. rotation on them, and means for removably holding the frame in position in the hood.

15. In a suction sweeper a hood having an open suction mouth, in combination with a brush carrying frame comprising two opposed brush supporting plates, a spring bar connecting them, a brush mounted for rotation on them, fingers projecting outwardly from the bar at one side of the brush perpendicular to the plane of the axis of rotation thereof and-means for removably holding the brush carrying frame in position in the hood with the fingers extending across the open mouth.

16. In a suction cleaner a hood having an open suction mouth, in combination with a brush carrying frame comprising two op,-

' posed brush supporting plates, a. spring bar vof the open mouth, the frame being adapted to rest against one of them and yielding means for holding the frame against one of the walls of the hood said means being in line with the other flange.

17. In a suction sweeper a hood having an open suction mouth, in combination witha brush carrying frame comprising two opposed brush supporting plates, a spring bar connecting them, a brush mounted for rotation on them fingers projecting outwardly from the bar at one side of the brush nerpendicular to the plane of the axis 0f rotation thereof and means for removably holding the brush carrying frame in position in the hood with the fingers extending 2 flanges. 2:

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses this 29th day of May, 1917.

HERBERT W. HOOVER. Witnesses:

ESTA A. SToNER, GUY L. FADDIS- 

